Mastodawn

How to describe Kissinger, according to major news organizations:

BBC: "sometimes controversial"

Reuters: "diplomat and Nobel winner"

CNN: "a dominating and polarizing force"

Politico: "America's most famous diplomat"

NBC News: "former US Secretary of State"

NYT: "shaped Cold War history"

Wall Street Journal: "helped forge US Policy"

AP News: "ex-secretary of state"

CNBC: "towering American diplomat"

ABC News: "former secretary of state and presidential advisor"

France 24: "giant of statecraft"

The Hill: "American dipolomat"

Washington Post: "shaped world affairs under two presidents"

NPR: "..." [updated to: "legendary diplomat and foreign policy scholar"]

COWARDS. All of you. THIS is a headline:

Rolling Stone: "War Criminal Beloved by America's Ruling Class"

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/

this is said Rolling Stone article for those interested

Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies

Henry Kissinger has died at age 100, his consulting firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rolling Stone

Erik Uden 🚩Nov 30, 2023

@deilann the way the Rolling Stones just takes nobody's shit is incredible.

AnAffordableWizard Nov 30, 2023

@deilann lol that owns

Glenn Hoppe Nov 30, 2023

@gruber this Rolling Stone article seems the perfect fit for a link from Daring Fireball

I feel like the Times of India's use of "singular US diplomat" is more biting than it appears on the surface.

frandroid 🏴‍☠️ jin jiyan azadî Nov 30, 2023

@deilann A Pravda style headline

Gerardo

good riddance @deilann

Derek Nov 30, 2023

@deilann Huff Post went hard on him https://www.huffpost.com/entry/henry-kissinger-dies_n_6376933ae4b0afce046cb44f

Henry Kissinger, America’s Most Notorious War Criminal, Dies At 100

The titan of American foreign policy was complicit in millions of deaths — and never showed remorse for his decisions.

HuffPost

@gringlegrif good. daily beast went luke warm in terms of headline

my first random shuffle didn't pull HuffPo

JanPV Nov 30, 2023

@gringlegrif It's the kind of article we'd never see in the UK, more is the pity.

Kévin ⏚Nov 30, 2023

@gringlegrif @deilann I wonder what he did to piss off Verizon like that (they ain't wrong tho)

Kévin ⏚Nov 30, 2023

@gringlegrif @deilann Ignore me, they're owned by BuzzFeed now. Hard to keep up

Weltzeitgeist Nov 30, 2023

@deilann There are now two realities. You have to choose in which one you want to life.

Isho'ye Nov 30, 2023

@deilann NPR Update: "legendary diplomat and foreign policy scholar"

@wuffish gross, thank you

WikiParty Nov 30, 2023

@deilann Ironically, much of the ruling class has been trashing him for the last few years, for being "soft on China" (he was feted there only a few months ago) and suggesting negotiations re. Ukraine before they themselves realised that necessity.

we tend to not hear from the ruling class

@michaelgraaf
@deilann

Oh fuck right off with Kissinger on Ukraine.

The only ones who agreed with his desire to sell out Ukraine to the Russians starting in 2014 were the neo-cons and tankies like the Nation's atrocious Katrina vanden Heuvel

WikiParty Nov 30, 2023

@ryansingel https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/05/ukraine-russia-peace-negotiations/ This was even before the ammo ran out. The longer the delay, the weaker the Ukrainian position.

U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show it’s open to negotiate with Russia

The encouragement is aimed not at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table but ensuring it maintains a moral high ground in the eyes of its backers.

The Washington Post

@michaelgraaf

You pretend to be a freedom fighter by supporting the rapey, anti-Semitic sociopath Julian Assange who plays footsie with Putin.

Ukrainians actually fight and sacrifice for their freedom, and Kyiv is still free baby.

Fuck right back off into the Rumble comment section on Glenn Greenwald's latest appearance on Tucker Carlson's podcast.

Nobody wants to hear your apologia for Kissinger

@michaelgraaf
Also you dumb fuck, you can't simultaneously lionize Aaron Swartz and Julian Assange.

Swartz's final project was Secure Drop, an open source alternative to WikiLeaks, because he knew Assange was a sociopathic, authoritarian asshole

WikiParty Nov 30, 2023

@ryansingel "Apologia"? pointing out that the same elite which loved him as a war criminal, turned against him when he urged caution, is an apologia? Keep calm & read everything twice.

@michaelgraaf
He didn't urge caution on Ukraine. He played the same power game he always did. Ignore human rights and people's desire for freedom and autonomy, and prioritize power relations between empires.

His argument was Ukraine had no right to determine its own future, because Russia.

Calling this war criminal's stance on anything "caution" is apologia.

Again, go fuck your tankie bullshit

RAK Nov 30, 2023

@ryansingel @michaelgraaf: Yeah, the argument of Kissinger and Mearsheimer and so many other apologists for Russia is that Ukraine should have no agency, nor should the other countries that Russia has earmarked to be in its sphere of influence.

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-henry-kissinger-on-state-of-global-politics-a-1002073.html

@michaelgraaf
Kissinger in 2014

"SPIEGEL: But we cannot tell the Ukrainians that they are not free to decide their own future.

Kissinger: Why not?"

In other words, by embracing Kissinger, you are not a leftist. You are an authoritarian following the same murderous playbook that Kissinger used to destroy Allende, Timor, and Cambodia.

Fuck right off

Interview with Henry Kissinger: 'Do We Achieve World Order Through Chaos or Insight?'

Henry Kissinger is the most famous and most divisive secretary of state the US has ever had. In an interview, he discusses his new book exploring the crises of our time, from Syria to Ukraine, and the limits of American power. He says he acted in accordance with his convictions in Vietnam.

DER SPIEGEL

Steve S Dec 4, 2023

@ryansingel @michaelgraaf
Zelenskyy should have replied to the request to consider negotiations with something like this:

"We are always open to negotiating an unconditional surrender by the enemy."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-rethinking-the-cost-of-western-intervention-in-ukraine/2014/11/25/b92f8496-741a-11e4-9c9f-a37e29e80cd5_story.html

@michaelgraaf
@deilann

For those not schooled in how the Russian-empire excusing tankies (Code Pink, The Nation, and the minor Substack bros) embraced Kissinger and called the Ukraine 2014 uprising a coup, this is the ur-text on it:

Rethinking the cost of Western intervention in Ukraine

The West must rethink the cost of intervention.

The Washington Post

drfourny Nov 30, 2023

@deilann He was a horrible man.

Patrick Johanneson 🚀 🇨🇦Nov 30, 2023

@deilann CBC: "polarizing statesman who shaped U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam War era"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-henry-kissinger-dead-1.7044509

Henry Kissinger, polarizing statesman who shaped U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam War era, dead at 100 | CBC News

Henry Kissinger, a controversial Nobel Peace Prize winner and diplomatic powerhouse whose service as secretary of state under U.S. presidents Nixon and Ford left an indelible mark on U.S. foreign policy, died on Wednesday.

CBC

Michael Nov 30, 2023

@pjohanneson @deilann WTF CBC?

Sir_Osis_of_Liver Nov 30, 2023

@pjohanneson @deilann

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-henry-kissinger-dead-1.7044509

Looks like it was updated. I see this:

Henry Kissinger, polarizing statesman who shaped U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam War era, dead at 100 | CBC News

CBC

@Sir_Osis_of_Liver yes, I only pulled the descriptors, which is why @pjohanneson only included the "polarizing statesman who shaped U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam War era" part

Sir_Osis_of_Liver Nov 30, 2023

@deilann @pjohanneson

Ah, I see.

aethervision Nov 30, 2023

@deilann How they got Hunter S Thompson to write the obit is beyond me.

@deilann Besides the millions of human beings he caused the deaths of, there's also all the forests' worth of trees that died en masse whenever he released a volume of his fucking memoirs
Each of these is like 1000 pages
#henrykissinger

Pippa 🌈Nov 30, 2023

@jlroberson @deilann description: two photos of three rather hefty hardback books, all by Henry Kissinger: ‘White House Years’, ‘Years Of Upheaval’ and ‘Years Of Renewal’

the rule of debunking implies the accurate versions would be 5000 pages each at the very least

@deilann @pippa

@pippa @deilann Thanks for the suggestion but I like mine better ;)

Pippa 🌈Nov 30, 2023

@deilann @jlroberson yours would be a lot better if there were alt text added so that more people could understand what’s going on! 😉

@pippa @deilann Oh but there is

there wasn't before - thank you for editing it in though

@deilann @Jeanniewarner description: the four-panel comic meme with Death and a pet dog whose time is up: “It’s Time To Go.”
“Was I a good dog?”
“No. I’m Told You Were The Best.”
— only edited in place of the dog it’s the ‘Death frustrated at Kissinger not being in the claw machine’ meme asking if it was “a good meme” instead 😂

The Turtle Nov 30, 2023

@deilann he was a god-dam dildo and a toady and a slime mold and probable sexual abuser fifty years ago. We all suspected it.

Jeri Dansky Nov 30, 2023

@deilann I'm lucky. I heard the news via @feditrends (https://feditrends.com) and the first story listed there is the excellent one from Rolling Stone.

feditrends

Aggregrating the latest trends from across the fediverse.

[evil] witch lexi

@deilann yeah, Rolling Stone is based

[evil] witch lexi

@deilann i love this

Good Riddance

Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies

lizzard Nov 30, 2023

@deilann rolling stone!!! Respect

love when fedi does a blast from the past

glad to see you're still at it

we connected at wiscon a lifetime ago

Ginny Bee (she/her)Nov 30, 2023

@deilann Legend

OliverUv Nov 30, 2023

@deilann SVT (swedish state tv) `American diplomat and former minister of foreign affairs`

Artemesia Nov 30, 2023

@deilann Bury him next to rush limpballs so we can piss two graves on one beer.

Dirk Ritter Nov 30, 2023

@deilann Gosh I knew it would be like THAT, but thumbs up for Rolling Stone. They nailed it.

Fosstonaut (Gamey)

@deilann God damn is that disgusting! The German sature artist Volker Pispers called him Chiles Osama bin laden, that seems far more fitting than all of those glorifications!

Honestly Mom Nov 30, 2023

@deilann yeah, but don't forget that Rolling Stone is owned by Penske Media Group, so is still ruling class owned media.

Joanna Bryson, blathering Nov 30, 2023

@deilann @woody I feel shamed for only obliquely calling him a posing hydra head. https://mastodon.social/@j2bryson/111498489074215369